Chief Election Commissioner treks 18 km in Uttarakhand to reach remote polling station, assess challenges

The Chief Election Commissioner told media that polling parties must trek several days to reach outlying locations. "The polling parties must trek three days to get here. I wanted to come here to learn about the difficulties that poll workers experience during elections," he stated.

Rajeev Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, hiked for 18 kilometres to distant voting booths in Uttarakhand on Friday to observe the obstacles encountered by political parties in hilly areas. He travelled to Dumak and Kalgoth villages in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand's most distant voting stations.

The Chief Election Commissioner told media that polling parties must trek several days to reach outlying locations. "The polling parties must trek three days to get here. I wanted to come here to learn about the difficulties that poll workers experience during elections," he stated.

In addition, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar stated that he will be visiting more rural voting booths to better understand the needs.  "I will be visiting numerous rural voting booths beginning here and attempting to meet the needs of voters in these locations," he stated.

The voting stations in Dumak and Kalgoth are part of the Badrinath Assembly constituency. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami won the Champawat bypoll by more than 55,000 votes on Friday. This was a much-needed victory for Dhami, who had already lost the state Assembly elections earlier this year despite the BJP's huge triumph.

This is not the first time the newly appointed CEC has gone off the beaten path to set an example. Earlier in May, he and the other election commissioners agreed to limit the amount of leave travel allowances granted each year. Furthermore, the commission has resolved that the CEC and ECs would not take advantage of any income tax breaks that are now available to them.